Category: Human rights

Russian independent medium dissolves

Blog, Europe, Human rights

Brussels 31.05.2021 Newsru site which has functioned primarily as a news aggregator in recent years, said it was not possible for them to continue operations for economic reasons.

“Many thanks to all of you who have been reading us for 21 years. We know for sure that many stayed with us all this time. Lately there have been 3 million of you a month” reads the announcement of Newsru site.

“From August 1, 2000 to May 31, 2021, every day we tried to fulfil our professional duties with utmost honesty, namely, to tell what is important in the country and in the world, to compose an objective information picture of the day.
“At the very beginning of the century we were NTV.ru, for the first time in Russia a television news site was created, the very same NTV, the 20th anniversary of the destruction of which was remembered quite recently.
“For most of our employees today, working on this information site has taken most of their lives. Many of us have worked here since its opening.

“We stop working for economic reasons, but they are caused precisely by the political situation in our country. After 2014, it became clear that not only geography and foreign policy, but also the domestic economy were changing radically.

“Our picture of the day began to differ so much from the picture preferred by state resources that large advertisers stopped cooperating with us after the events of 2014, and the rest began to be especially afraid this year.
“More and more often we had to write about the adoption of restrictive laws that could affect us ourselves any day. We had to label more and more respected people and sources of truthful information as foreign agents and extremists.
“The situation in the economy and in the legal field makes the high-quality work of NEWSru.com more impossible.
“We say goodbye to you, but for now we leave open the entire archive accumulated over 21 years of work. And this is 1 million 172 thousand 931 news (not including this one). This history of the events of the 21st century is extremely important for understanding what is happening today. The archive will help you not to be naive and gullible, it will help you to compare the facts and answer many questions.
“For us, this is the last message for today.
“We sadly say goodbye to our totally unique and loyal audience.
“Your NEWSru.com.

Airlines: Russia attempts to retaliate

Blog, Human rights, Politics, Uncategorized

Brussels 28.05.2021 Airlines revealed Russia has blocked some European flights avoiding Belarus airspace in a standoff over the arrest of a Belarusian journalist, as his parents pleaded Thursday for international help to get him released.

The G7 global powers also demanded Minsk release Roman Protasevich and the EU’s foreign policy chief threatened hard-hitting economic sanctions.

Belarus’s strongman President Alexander Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, 23.

A nervous-looking Protasevich was last seen in a video released by Belarusian authorities on Monday in which he was seen supposedly admitting to helping to organise mass unrest, a charge that could land him in jail for 15 years.

“I want you to relay our appeal everywhere, throughout the world, to government representatives, to EU countries, to EU leaders, to US leaders: I am appealing, I am begging, help me free my son,” his mother Natalia told journalists in Warsaw, visibly moved.

Roman’s father, Dmitry said his son was “a tough man” and “a hero”. After almost three decades of service in Belarus armed forces Dmitry was sacked by Lukashenko order as a demonstrative punitive measure for his son’s political activity.

“Throughout his life he fought for the truth and passed it on to people, which is why Lukashenko committed this despicable act,” he said.

The family and their lawyer confirmed that they have not had any communication with their son since his arrest.

Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations on Thursday, May 27, demanded the “immediate and unconditional release” of Protasevich, “as well as all other journalists and political prisoners held in Belarus”, in a joint statement published by the British government.

Minsk: 17-old defendant suicide

Blog, Europe, Human rights

Brussels 26.05.2021 On the evening of May 25 in Minsk, 17-year-old Dmitry Stakhovsky, a defendant in the criminal case for participating in the “mass riots” on August 9-11, 2020 (part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code), committed suicide by jumping from a 16-storey building. He had left in social net VKontakte post before his death, in which he explains his act by pressure of the criminal prosecution because of his participation in the rallies: “The investigation committee is to blame for that.”

It is known that Dmitry was an orphan, lived in a hostel. It was the employees of this hostel who pointed to the guy as a participant in the protest actions, after which he became a defendant in the criminal case under Art. 293 of the Criminal Code. It is known that on the afternoon of May 25, he was interrogated in this case. In his post on VKontakte, the guy noted: “If they did not continue to pressure me mentally, I think I would not have dared to take such a terrible act as suicide. But my strength was running out.”

Belarus expels Lativa diplomats

Blog, EU, Europe, Human rights, International, Politics

Brussels 24.05.2021 Belarus is expelling the Ambassador of Latvia H.E. Einars Semanis, he was asked to leave the country within 24 hours. This was announced by the head of the Belarusian diplomacy Vladimir Makei.

“The Latvian ambassador was invited to the Foreign Ministry in connection with the insult of the state flag of Belarus in Riga,” Makei explained.

Together wit the Ambassador, Belarus expels the entire Embassy staff, ​​with the exception of one administrative officer who is allowed to stay in Minsk.

Explaining the actions of Minsk in relation to the Ambassador of Latvia, Makei called the reaction of politicians of a number of Western countries to the situation with the plane “coordinated actions and a planned provocation.” At the same time, Makei noted that Minsk does not exclude a response from Riga.

The head of the Belarus diplomacy has underlined that no country has yet requested information from Belarus on the incident with Ryanair.

The down spiral of the diplomatic raw in the aftermath of the Belarus journalist Roman Protasevich, 26, (pictured above) arrest continues. Protasevich was returning to Vilnius from an economic conference in Greece with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Greek officials explained.

The RyanAir flight, which had been carrying some 170 passengers, should have taken about three hours. As it approached the border between Belarus and Lithuania, a MiG-29 fighter jet was sent to intercept it. After the forced landing Protasevich has been arrested. There is also an information that the other activist with Russian citizenship, travelling with the same board was detained in Minsk.

Alexander Lukashenko, 66, who is often referred to as “Europe’s last dictator,” personally ordered the fighter jet to escort the Ryanair plane to the Minsk airport after a bomb threat, his press service said. According to the statement, Lukashenko, an ally of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, gave an “unequivocal order” to “make the plane do a U-turn and land.”

The EU Council president Charles Michel has defined the incident as an “international scandal”, pointing out that the forceful landing of the civil aircraft was compromising safety and security of all passengers on board and the EU is going to discuss this issue first at the ongoing Summit of the leaders of 27 to ensure the adequate response: “What happened yesterday in #Belarus is an international scandal. It endangered the lives of civilians & threatens international security. We will discuss different options of sanctions today at #EUCO. A strong reaction is needed” Michel said at the doorstep of the meeting in Brussels.

Russia supports Ryanair highjack

Blog, Europe, Human rights, International, Uncategorized

Brussels 24.05.2021 Anna van Densky OPINION The defence of Belarus President Lukashenko actions, which have been already defined by some of the EU politicians as “state terrorism”, indicated that Russia has been informed or, even engaged in this operation, which also can lead to a suggestion the the liberation of Protasevich and the other political prisoners in Belarus would be possible through an asymmetric answer. The extensive presence of Russians at French Riviera, purchasing luxury mansions and palaces could become an key to the liberation of all political prisoners in Belarus, just through questioning the sources of their wealth.

“There is no reason why Western countries should be shocked by the Ryanair flight incident, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook on Monday, May 24, clearly defending the actions of Alexandar Lukashenko, who sent MiG29 jet to force civil aircraft landing with purpose of kidnapping the Belarus opposition journalist Roman Protasevich.

“What is shocking is that the West has described the incident in Belarusian airspace as shocking. The so-called civilised democracies’ tendency to follow the ‘quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi’ principle has long been irrelevant because the former leaders have lost leadership skills. The blood and suffering of millions of people across the world have yanked the pedestal from under Western demagogues, from where they have been preaching,” Zakharova has underlined.

“Or, they should be shocked by everything, including the moves to force down the Bolivian president’s plane in Austria at the United States’ request and the Belarusian aircraft carrying an anti-Maidan activist. Otherwise, such behavior should not come as a shock to them,” the Russian diplomat emphasized.

During Ryanair flight to Vilnius that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport on Sunday, May 23, after a reported bomb threat, which came up empty. The Belarusian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case into the false bomb threat. Minsk’s federal authorities specified that Roman Protasevich, wanted in Belarus as a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel deemed extremist, had been among the flight’s passengers. He was detained by law enforcement officers, media reports said.

A joint investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and the French Le Monde revealed the extent to which one of Russia’s most infamous oligarchs — Putin’s childhood friend Boris Rotenberg — is entrenched in the French Riviera. However he was not the only one. Would the EU show the political will for Protasevich liberation start questioning Russians wealth sources at French Riviera?

Russia: new migrant status

Blog, Europe, Human rights

Brussels 22.05.2021 A special legal status – ‘controlled presence’ – will be introduced for migrants that have no right to stay in Russia, but are forced to remain on its territory due to circumstances, for example, the coronavirus-related lockdown, a source in press service of the Russian Interior Ministry told TASS in response to a respective request. (Image above: USSR people friendship fountain, Moscow, Russia)

“As one of preventative activities aimed at improving the efficiency of the mechanism ensuring safety and law enforcement in the migration field, it is planned to introduce a special legal status – ‘controlled presence’. It will be established regarding migrants having no legal grounds to stay in Russia, but remaining on its territory for whatever reason,” press service said.

The new legal status will be applied to foreigners, regarding which, for example, a deportation judgement has been suspended or exit from Russia has been limited due to necessity to execute the imposed punishment, participate in legal proceedings, the ministry explained. “The issue is under consideration on establishing such a status regarding foreigners with socially-dangerous diseases, who have been provided with instructions by Rospotrebnadzor on observing certain sanitary rules, including lockdown, as well,” it added.

According to the data provided by the ministry, around 1.6M migrants have not left the country after expiration of the period of their stay in the country since last March when the coronavirus infection pandemic started. The measures that have been taken, have enabled around 400,000 people to legalize their status.

ECHR: Navalny Foundation lawsuit

Blog, Human rights, International, Politics

Brussels 21.05.2021 The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has given priority to the case on the lawsuit of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) labeled an extremist organisation by Russian government, the director of the Foundation, Ivan Zhdanov, said live on the Navalny Live YouTube channel.

According to Zhdanov, Russia was given a deadline until May 20 to answer questions from the ECHR on this case. Navalny Foundation must announce its position by May 24. At the same time, all the procedures in the case, which can take years, the fund passed in a month, noted Ivan Zhdanov.

The director of the Foundation hopes that the ECHR will deliver its ruling earlier than the Russian court. Ivan Zhdanov suggested that it is precisely because of the consideration of the complaint in the European Court that the case on the recognition of the fund as an extremist organisation in the Russian court is being delayed.
“We believe that the lawsuit against the Anti-Corruption Foundation is a fundamental case that separates us from truly massive repression,” Zhdanov said. “The European Court of Human Rights has also realised that this lawsuit is one of the key events in modern Russian history. “.
In April, the Moscow prosecutor’s office turned to court with a demand to recognise the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Navalny’s headquarters as extremist organisations. As explained in the supervisory department, these organisations are engaged in the destabilisation of the social and socio-political situation “under the guise of liberal slogans.”
“The actual goals of their activities are to create conditions for changing the foundations of the constitutional order, including using the scenario of the “color revolution” the prosecutor’s office has underlined.

All Navalny’s headquarters stopped their activities under unprecedented pressure from Russian state.

“Golden” passports vs. migrants welcome

Blog, EU, Europe, Human rights, Politics

Brussels. 30.10.2020 The EU President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she condemned the “hideous act” in the Church Notre Dame in Nice, and the head of the EU diplomacy Josep Borrell tweeted that he was “shocked” by the “barbarism”. But do they really believe that the Islamist radicals care what the EU leaders think about their attacks? To whom do they address their condemnation?
To the radicals, who are considering themselves the “martyrs in Islam”, offering the ultimate sacrifice to Allah Akbar?..

(Image: actress, and devote Catholic Nadine Devillers, victim of Nice attack).

The assailant, who was kindly assisted by the Italian Red Cross, issuing him a document, when he landed at Lampedusa, had been less than a month in France, when he had undertaken gruesome knife attack against Christians in a central church of Nice out of ideological motives, shouting “Allah Akbar!”, while stabbing, slitting throats, and cutting off head of an elderly woman. It did not look like he new any of his three victims, who came for the morning prayer.

What the “condemnation” of the EU top executives mean in practical terms of protection of human life (European Convention of Human Rights Article 2 – right to life)?
“Thought with families of victims”, “shock from barbarism” are only words, which protect no one.
The EU has launched an infringement procedure against Cyprus and Malta for “golden passport” scheme, exchanging citizenship for investment into economy. But why there are no infringement procedures against Italy and France, for neglecting Article 2 of European Human rights Convention, neglecting Islamist threat, and allowing extremists to acquire permits to stay, converted later to citizenship?

The served head of the teacher Samuel Paty by Chechen radical, or Chechen-Maghreb gangs fighting for drug traffic, – all these crimes have one feature in common: unrestricted access to settle in France to abuse the democracy, profiting from its fruit, and denying the values of the hosting society.

It is time to face the reality: for more than a half of Muslims living in Europe Sharia law is more important than the civil law, and even more so for the newcomers, who by no means are interested to embrace European cultures, but to preserve their own, they have fled.

The European Commission has started an infringement procedure against Cyprus and Malta over European citizenship, which should not be “for sale”, but should it be granted freely to any migrant landing in Europe under asylum-seeking pretext? What is “dignifying” about distribution of the European permits and passports for migrants with obscure past and dim plans for future? Denouncing 800 Maltese “golden passports” to distribute more than half-a-million yearly to migrants whose claim is based on the length of stay. It is useful to remember that the very idea of ‘naturalisation’ is entirely “Western”, and is not practised across the world.

The trend of beheading in France should remind us about the history of asylum-seeking which was launched in Colonial era (1951), when nobody could imagine that the entire Africa would be free, and these Conventions of Geneva would be used to move populations massively from one continent to another, allowing Islamists to infiltrate. Nowadays there are more than 8 000 radicals in France on the surveillance list “S”, and 400 are not in possession of any valid document to stay. 

The “golden passports” scheme “undermines the European values” the EU civil servants claim, but indiscriminate welcome to migrants undermines the “right to life” of the European citizens. The issue that continues to be neglected and overlooked. 

Image above: Nadine Devillers, victime of Nice Notre Dame cathedral attack during her last performance in Phoenix theratre.

#COVID19: Scientists against lockdown

Africa, Blog, Human rights, World

Brussels 16.10.2020 REVIEW: From October 1-4, 2020, the American Institute for Economic Research hosted a remarkable meeting of top epidemiologists, economists, and journalists, to discuss the global emergency created by the unprecedented use of state compulsion in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. The result is The Great Barrington Declaration, which urges a “Focused Protection” strategy. (Image above: EU Council 15-16 October, Brussels).

DECLARATION:
he Great Barrington Declaration – As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection.

Coming from both the left and right, and around the world, we have devoted our careers to protecting people. Current lockdown policies are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health. The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health – leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden. Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice.

Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.

Fortunately, our understanding of the virus is growing. We know that vulnerability to death from COVID-19 is more than a thousand-fold higher in the old and infirm than the young. Indeed, for children, COVID-19 is less dangerous than many other harms, including influenza.

As immunity builds in the population, the risk of infection to all – including the vulnerable – falls. We know that all populations will eventually reach herd immunity – i.e. the point at which the rate of new infections is stable – and that this can be assisted by (but is not dependent upon) a vaccine. Our goal should therefore be to minimize mortality and social harm until we reach herd immunity.

The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk. We call this Focused Protection… (Full text on the site: https://gbdeclaration.org )

Curfew against virus

Blog, EU, Europe, Human rights, Politics

Brussels 14.10.2020 Tonight the speech of President Macron is awaited in many EU capitals: will he apply method of curfew as a tool of defeating COVID-19 pandemic also in the Hexagone? Neighbouring Belgium has already imposed this drastic measure from 14 October in some provinces.

Several French media evoked the possibility of curfews in the most affected territories of the V-th Republic, the strategy promoted by the president of the National Academy of Medicine, the former Minister of Health Jean-François Mattéi.

The curfew option is also being considered by the Covid-19 Scientific Council in an alert note dated September 22. The body chaired by Jean-François Delfraissy recalls that a curfew has notably been introduced in Guyana, where Jean Castex went shortly after his appointment to Matignon.

At this stage of the epidemic, the Scientific Council does not envisage proposing the option (of a curfew) at the national level, but cannot exclude its use in certain metropolitan areas and of course in the event of deterioration. later ”, the text of this note reads, which mentions curfews for a period of a fortnight.

On Monday, October 12, referring to a “very difficult” situation facing the “reality of a second epidemic wave”, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, did not rule out the new period of re-confinement in the country where the health crisis will last according to him several more months. (However the World Bank in its documents mentions 15 month of the second wave).

“General re-confinement must be avoided by all means,” the head of government told France Info, referring to the “absolutely dramatic” consequences of such a drastic measure. “Nothing should be excluded when we see the situation in our hospitals,” he replied when asked about possible local.

The Scientific Council warns that the population’s support for such a measure would be “probably weak, with detrimental effects in terms of social cohesion and confidence” and indicates that its economic cost would be “all the greater as it occurs. after a first period of confinement and that it feeds negative economic expectations with potentially disastrous effects ”.

As in other European countries, France is facing a marked deterioration in health indicators this autumn. The threshold of 1,500 patients treated in intensive care for a Covid-19 infection was crossed again on Monday for the first time since May 27.

One of the leading world experts in virology Professor Didier Raoult initially regretted “the global state of nervous crisis in which the country is dived”, while invited by CNews to comment on certain measures taken by political authorities in regions of France to slow the spread of Covid-19.

“It is beyond reason and understanding,” he proclaims. “This leads to adopting strategies that put more health at risk.”